The invention relates to an apparatus and method for removing flashing from plastic bottles.
In many bottle manufacturing operations, plastic is extruded and blown within a mold to form the shape of a bottle. The bottle is filled. Dies then engage the upper portion of the filled bottle to form an upper neck and to seal the bottle. One such application in which these bottles are formed is disposable, low-density, polyethylene douche bottles.
There are two separate flashings that must be removed before the bottle can be packaged, flashing on the bottom of the bottle and flashing on the neck and top of the bottle. Pins pass through the bottom flashing. (The pins are formed integrally with the die). When the bottle is removed from the die, the flashing is removed by these pins.
The upper flashing is presently removed by hand. In some applications with high density or rigid plastic bottles, the flashing about the neck is removed by clamps or the like. However, this is not feasible with low-density polyethylene because the clamping systems available in the art tend to tear the bottle during the step of removing the flashing.
The present invention comprises an apparatus and method wherein the flashing from the neck or top of a bottle, particularly a low-density plastic bottle, is removed without damaging the bottle.
Broadly the invention comprises a lower housing assembly and an upper clamping assembly.
The housing assembly has two facing walls each characterized by concave recesses. The walls are adapted for movement between open and closed positions. The walls, when closed, define nests. In its closed position, the housing engages and supports the bottles, the nests covering a substantial portion of the bottle to impart dimensional stability to the bottle from which the flashing is being removed. These nests prevent tearing of the bottle when the flashing is removed.
The clamping assembly includes facing plates which clamp together when in a closed position. Formed in the plates are opposed sets of jaws, each set functions in combination with a bottle held in a nest. Openings are defined between adjacent jaws in each plate. The openings in the plate are aligned with one another and they are in register with the top portion of a bottle. The jaws defining these openings are adapted to clamp the flashing, their inner edges following the juncture of the flashing and the top of the bottle.
After the bottles have been capped and sealed, the walls of the housing close to engage the bottles therebetween. The housing assembly moves the bottles to the clamping assembly. The jaws close and clamp the flashing. The jaws move away from the bottles to remove the flashing and the jaws then open, discarding the flashing.